saturn
Boardie
I am a Swan.
Registration Date: 21-05-2008
Posts: 324
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Dear all
Feeling very happy to be able to share this special celebration with you all here.
Basically, the greatest thing of the moon cake festival is of course because it coincides with the full moon phase. The Chinese has always associated the full moon with family reunion. It is customary to those who work or study outside of their hometowns to return home to have a family reunion, and that is why this festival is also sometimes called the Reunion Festival.
Even the food served on this day has a round shape. As you can see, moon cakes are in the shape of a full moon, which reflects people's pursuit of a round and perfect life. It is therefore customary for people to watch the full moon, while eating these cakes, to encourage people to seek the brightness of the moon in their journey through life.
Most people worship their ancestors on this day, because it is the day when family members return home.After the worship and the burning of paper money, the adults then prepare food and wine in the courtyard, followed by moon gazing and chanting.
Children are usually playing around the courtyard, carrying brightly lit paper lanterns (which are becoming more&more "westernised" in their shapes nowadays, as you can see in this pic,there are lanterns with the shape of Superman,Garfield and even Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls, )
At some public places, there will be some fire dragon dance shows.
It is also worth mentioning that since full moon can evoke various romantic feelings in people, this festival is still a favorite for most Chinese couple to express their loves to each other (a little bit like Valentine's day).Many single chinese women also pray to the moon goddess on this day,hoping to be blessed with good husbands.
Speaking about the moon cake itself, in the past, most of the fillings for the moon cakes are made of lotus seeds and sweet beans and LOTS of sugar, but now there are more varieties of fillings for moon cakes, like chocolate, coffee, peanut, ice cream, cheese, etc, with less sugar& fat (due to the increased popularity of health-conscious lifestyle).
At my place, the most favourite filling is durian, but I don't really think I would recommend this filling for you, as I have been told that most westerners can't even stand the smell of durian, , I would definitely recommend the coffee filling.
Perhaos one day we could all sit around a table under the full moon, eating moon cakes while sipping chinese tea, and playing around with Gatchaman paper lanterns. I would love either a Ken or Joe paper lantern, especially if it lits up at the right places,
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15-09-2008 08:51
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Hinotori
Babbling Loonie
I am an Eagle.
2 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 09-10-2007
Posts: 2004
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15-09-2008 23:15
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saturn
Boardie
I am a Swan.
Registration Date: 21-05-2008
Posts: 324
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16-09-2008 03:24
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saturn
Boardie
I am a Swan.
Registration Date: 21-05-2008
Posts: 324
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quote: | Originally posted by Transmute Jun
But... if you burn the Jigokiller lantern, does the Jun landtern have to be inside? And will there be spores coming out as well? |
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Well, we could always just draw Jun in the Jigokiller lantern, and just pretended that she was burned along with the Jigokiller lantern. Would rather not risking burning down the Jun's lantern, still need the lantern for another "heated" moments with Ken's lantern,
Rregarding the spores, perhaps we could just use a popcorn pouch, heated it up, and pretended that the popcorns are the spores. Wow, popcorn and moon cakes, now that will be a very nice combination of east meeting west.
quote: | Originally posted by Ebonyswanne
TJ's the most flexiable of all of us when it comes to pairing |
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TJ is indeed very flexible, just waiting for the day when TJ finally decides to write a fic about 7-zark-7 and Princess (Jun), after all, she was the only girl who would kiss an annoying robot like Zark.
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17-09-2008 09:35
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Transmute Jun
Queen of the Bird Missiles
I am a Swan.
40 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 04-04-2007
Posts: 20978
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17-09-2008 17:04
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saturn
Boardie
I am a Swan.
Registration Date: 21-05-2008
Posts: 324
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18-09-2008 07:31
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Transmute Jun
Queen of the Bird Missiles
I am a Swan.
40 fics uploaded
Registration Date: 04-04-2007
Posts: 20978
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18-09-2008 21:33
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